FRANCE-ISRAEL/BEACH-SECURITY Security beefed up at Paris beach festival "Tel Aviv on Seine" after protest calls

Record ID: 144147

  • Title: FRANCE-ISRAEL/BEACH-SECURITY Security beefed up at Paris beach festival "Tel Aviv on Seine" after protest calls
  • Date: 13th August 2015
  • Summary: POSTER ADVERTISING TEL AVIV BEACH FESTIVAL PEOPLE PLAYING ON SAND IN FRONT OF POSTER
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6BRJ1ZXWLFRW72W9P4LLAECRI
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Police screened visitors to Paris's city beach on Thursday (August 13) as a backlash against a decision to dedicate a day of events to Tel Aviv sparked security concerns.
    The celebration of the Israeli seaside resort has been condemned by left-wing and pro-Palestinian critics who say it implicitly condones Israeli government policy.
    Armed policemen blocked the roads leading to the beach and subjected visitors to screenings with metal detectors and bag checks.
    The annual "Paris Plages" sees the city line its river banks with sand and sunloungers, with seaside activities including beach volleyball and street food stalls.
    Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo had resisted calls to cancel the day's activities -- which include themed DJ sets and food stalls -- saying that it is about celebrating dialogue between cultures.
    The few visitors trickling on to the beach on Thursday said that they were there to show support for the event, hoping it would promote peace.
    "(I'm here) for Tel Aviv beach, to have a bit of fun and to show to those who are against it that we don't have anything against people. We love everyone but unfortunately not everyone loves us," Parisian Margalite Daoudy told Reuters TV.
    "I am really sorry that today in Paris we can't do an event that promotes the culture of Tel Aviv without it causing such a harsh and violent controversy. When the culture of a country, the culture of Israel, is rejected in such a dramatic way you're not talking about promoting peace, you're talking about rejecting peace," Jewish students union treasurer Nicolas Woloszko said.
    Foreign cities have often been honoured in the past but this time some 300 police were on duty on the short stretch of riverbank along the Seine.
    Paris has seen security tightened since the gun attacks of January 2015 which began at the headquarters of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and ultimately cost 17 lives.
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